A more sanguine Carlsen has of late been accepting that his “golden generation” from the 1990s could now face a serious group of emerging teenage talents who are all hungry for success and on the rise, specifically singling out Indians Gukesh D and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaam who both look destined to be future world championship material. “Finally now with these youngsters,” said Carlsen recently, “we have a generation that’s worthy of succeeding us when the time comes, and the time could be fairly soon!” 

Once it was Firouzja who was perceived to be a major threat to Carlsen - but he’s gone cold after taking a year sabbatical from the game to pursue an alternative/rivalling career in fashion. Since coming back to the elite game, Firouzja seems to have lost the intense hunger that propelled the then-teenager to the Sinquefield Cup and the world No.2 spot last September.

But Firouzja managed to battle his way past the other two teenagers to earn a second crack at Carlsen - and he almost defied the odds in what turned out to be a much more hard-fought encounter, with a brace of rapid draws and a win apiece in the blitz, that went to the wire of an all-deciding Armageddon showdown - with Magnus having 9 min to Firouzja’s 15 mins, but a draw winning the Norwegian the match - that went totally random at the end.

It turned out to be Carlsen who would narrowly “triumph on a choppy day” against what proved to be a very resilient Firouzja in the second time of asking - and the Norwegian was the first to admit that luck was on his side: “It was not my day at all today. To be honest, I think I was pretty lucky to even make it to the armageddon. My brain was not working today at all. I had a nice dinner with my family before I played, and even before that, I felt that it was not working. Especially after that, it was just dead. Some days are good. Some days, you have to get through them, and I'm really happy that I did.”

But like the old trooper that he is, through the day is just what Carlsen did, and with it the Norwegian won the $30,000 first prize (and 150 Tour points) as he collected his third Champions Chess Tour victory of the season, as he solidifies his lead at the top of the Tour points and money standings over his nearest rivals.  Five players - Carlsen, Abdusattorov, Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So - are already qualified for the finals in Toronto, leaving just three places now to be filled.

GM Alireza Firouzja - GM Magnus Carlsen

Julius Baer Grand Final, Armageddon (5)

B40: Sicilian Defence

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.b3 I believe it was the legendary Israeli champion IM Moshe Czerniak (1910-1984) who was the first (although he much preferred it via 2.b3 first) to experiment successfully with this timid-looking anti-Sicilian system in the 1950s and through the early '60s - but it only gained popularity in the late '70s after Boris Spassky adopted it. For the 10th World Champion, it was the 'lazy man' approach as he ust wanted a position to play that avoided all the main-line Sicilian theory. 3...a6 4.g3 With the double fianchetto, we are removed from the Czerniak/Spassky approach. 4...d5 5.exd5 exd5 6.Bg2 Nf6 7.O-O Be7 8.d4 O-O 9.Nc3 Nc6 10.Na4 cxd4 11.Nxd4 Bg4! A standard good move that is typical in such positions - and one that should force White's reply. 12.Ne2? And this wasn't it! White had to play 12.Nxc6 bxc6 13.Qd3 Qa5 14.Bd2 Qb5 15.Rfe1 Be6 16.Nc3 Qb6 17.Be3 Qb7 and equality.

12...Re8! The reason why Firouzja's 12.Ne2 was bad - now because of the looming threat of the pin, White has to play an uncomfortable move, and one that shows Carlsen is now in the driving seat. 13.f3?! The position is starting to go a bit "wonky" early doors for White, but Firouzja simply had to try 13.h3 Bxe2 14.Qxe2 b5 15.Nc3 Bb4 16.Qd3 Ne5 17.Qd4 Bxc3 18.Qxc3 Rc8 19.Qd4 Ne4! 20.Bb2 Rxc2 21.Rad1 Qa8 22.Ba1 where Mr Engine will tell you that this is the only chance White has in trying to quickly capture the d-pawn, and now 22...Nf6 23.Rde1 Ne4 24.Rd1! and see if Black wants a draw by repeating the position with 24...Nf6 25.Rde1 etc. 13...Bd7 14.Be3 b5 15.Nac3 Rc8!

Carlsen is simply bossing the position by bringing both his rooks into the game via the only open files - and this one has the more potent potential, as any efforts from Firouzja to capture on d5 will see the vulnerable c2-pawn becoming easy prey. 16.Bf2 Ba3 17.Rb1 Nb4 Just look at how harmonious Black's pieces are placed in comparison to all the awkwardness Firouzja has to endure with his pieces. Not the sort of position you really want to be defending against Carlsen, even if you have a time advantage! 18.Re1 h5?! (see diagram) I'm giving Carlsen the benefit of the doubt that he couldn't believe he'd easily find himself in such a crushing position, and with it being Armageddon, missed the killer punch of 18...d4! that would have left Firouzja in dire straits, and not in any good way with Mark Knopfler on lead guitar! Now White has to play 19.Ne4 (The pawn is taboo. After 19.Bxd4? Bf5 20.Bf2 Bxc2 21.Qxd8 Rcxd8 and Black has an overwhelming position.) 19...Nxe4 20.fxe4 Bg4 21.h3 Bxe2 22.Rxe2 Nxa2 23.Be1 (The d-pawn is still taboo on both counts. If 23.Qxd4 Nc3 and 23.Bxd4 Bc5! 24.Bxc5 Nc3! 25.Qxd8 Nxe2+ 26.Kf2 Rexd8 27.b4 Nc3 28.Ra1 Na4 where in both cases, easily winning) 23...Nc3 24.Bxc3 Rxc3 25.Qd2 Bd6 and Black is easily winning with too many White pawn weaknesses not to mention holes in his position. 19.Qd2 Nxc2! This really should have been a "light's out" scenario for Firouzja, but Carlsen misplays his wonderfully dominating position. 20.Qxc2 b4 21.Qd3 bxc3 22.Nxc3 Rxe1+ 23.Rxe1 Bb4 The immediate 23...Qa5! would have been toast for White - toast and marmalade even! 24.Bd4 Qa5 25.Re3 Better was 25.Rc1 with good survival chances. 25...Bxc3 26.Bxc3 Qxa2 27.h3? This move has got all the hallmarks of "rabbit caught in the headlights" syndrome. But then again, the slightly better 27.b4 Bb5 didn't look appetising either. 27...Qxb3 Not unreasonably snatching the pawn, but Carlsen's initial instincts were good, and he should have followed up with 27...h4! and it is hard to see how White survives for much longer, especially as 28.g4 and now 28...Qxb3! 29.Bxf6 Rc1+ 30.Kh2 Qxd3 31.Rxd3 gxf6 32.Rxd5 Bb5! 33.Rf5 Kg7 and the endgame looks horrific for White. 28.g4 Qc4 Also good and winning was 28...Qb6! 29.Qd2 d4 Not as good as the simpler 29...hxg4 30.fxg4 Bb5! 31.Qd4 Qxd4 32.Bxd4 Rc1+ 33.Kf2 Rd1! 34.Bc5 d4 35.Re5 d3 and Black should easily win from here. 30.Bxd4 Qc1+ 31.Qxc1 Rxc1+ 32.Kh2 Rc2 33.Re7? It's a tense Armageddon decider, and by this stage both players are in time-trouble, which a few of the coming moves reflect. More resilient was 33.Rc3 Rd2 34.Be3 Ra2 35.Bg5 Be6 36.Rd3 and Black still needs to put a shift in to convert the win. 33...Bb5 34.Re1 You could try 34.Bxf6 gxf6 35.Kg1 but after 35...h4! 36.f4 Rd2 37.Rc7 Kg7 38.Bf3 a5 39.Rc5 Rb2 40.Bd5 a4 and with the a-pawn running - not to mention White's vulnerable h3-pawn, should the king stray too far away - it is hard to see how White defends this. 34...Nd5 35.Be5 f6 36.Bd6 Ne3? That's the vagaries of Armageddon for you, as Carlsen gets distracted by the potential power of his own pieces, when, in fact, the job at hand was to start pushing the a-pawn with 36...a5! 37.gxh5 Nc3 intending ...Ne2 and Black's on the road to converting the win. 37.Rxe3 The trouble with Carlsen's previous move is that he leaves on the board the potential scenario for White to save the game with the opposite-coloured bishops. 37...Bf1 38.Kg3 Rxg2+ 39.Kf4 Rd2 40.Bc5?! It's that metaphorical sound of tick-tock in your ear. After 40.Re8+ Kf7 41.Re7+ Kg6 42.Bb4 Rd4+ 43.Re4! the win is slipping from Black's grasp due to the threat of the opposite colour bishop ending. 40...Rd5 41.Re8+ Kh7 42.Bf8 g5+? In Carlsen's defence in the Armageddon finale,  and the one with less time on his clock (though only needing to draw), this is a natural human move to make. However, much better was 42...Bxh3! more or less forcing now 43.gxh5 Rxh5 44.Ke3 Rg5 45.f4 Rg6! 46.Kf2 (Or even 46.Ra8 Bf1 47.Kf2 Bb5 with a big plus) 46...Bd7 47.Ra8 Bb5 48.Ra7 Kg8 49.Bc5 Rh6 and Black should go on to win - but White still has good saving potential here. 43.Kg3? Again the vagaries of Armageddon for you, as Firouzja walks right into a mating threat! After the much better 43.Ke4! what does Black do now, as 43...Rd7 44.Re7+! will be an easy draw with the opposite bishops? 43...Rd2 44.f4 h4+ 45.Kf3 Bxh3 46.Be7 Bg2+ 47.Ke3 Rd1 48.Kf2? I suppose it's little comfort for Firouzja that he simply had to play 48.Ke2 as after 48...Rd4 49.Bxf6 Rxf4 50.Bxg5 Rxg4 51.Bd8 h3 52.Re7+ Kg6 53.Re6+ Kf5 54.Rh6 Rd4 55.Bb6 Rf4 and Black will soon be converting with the two passed pawns. 48...h3 49.Bxf6 gxf4 50.Be5 Rd2+ 51.Ke1 f3? It's all getting pretty random now due to the clock. The clear win was 51...Ra2 52.Rh8+ Kg6 53.Bxf4 Ra4 54.Bc7 Rxg4 and Black should be able to convert. 52.Re7+?? Sometimes it is good to be Magnus Carlsen, as it looks like Firouzja took the world No.1 at face value that 52.Kxd2 f2 53.Rf8 f1=Q 54.Rxf1 Bxf1 was winning - but in the jittery mad dash of the Armageddon, he probably didn't realise that 55.Ke1 Bd3 56.Kf2 is just going to draw out - this is one of the classic examples of why you should always try to avoid opposite-coloured bishops like the plague when you go a pawn or two up in the endgame! 52...Kg8 53.Kxd2 f2 Now Black is winning as the rook can't get to the f-file. 54.g5 f1=Q And Firouzja soon resigns. 55.g6 Qf2+ 56.Kd3 Qf5+ 0-1